7 Up — Not Just a Soda Anymore

One of the most interesting documentaries I’ve ever seen has been the “Up” series from England. The series started in 1964 with 7 Up, and is still going strong after almost fifty years.

The premise is simple: filmmakers document the lives of ordinary people, checking in with them every seven years. So at ages, 7, 14, 21, etc., these people get a visit from a film crew and update everybody on their lives.

The Up series has been incredibly influential, spawning other Up series around the world, including Japan.

The Japanese Up series is relatively young; so far, there are only three movies in the series — 7 Up, 14 Up, and 21 Up.

But those three movies have covered a lot of ground. The kids documented in Japan’s Up series seem to have been carefully chosen to represent some of the biggest issues in Japanese society and culture, and the more movies are made about them, the more the nuances of these issues come to light.

I recently watched 21 Up, the latest movie in the series, and here are some of the biggest issues the movie talks about.

Territorial Disputes

Last year was a bad year for foreign relations for Japan. Between territorial disputes with China and Korea, Japan didn’t make a whole lot of friends.

One of the girls in Japan’s Up series has a grandfather from the Kuril Islands, a stretch of islands between Russia and Japan that have been disputed for years and years.

In the span of these three movies, you can see her views change from “I hate the Russians, they need to give the islands back” to something more along the lines of “meh.” It will be interesting to see how her views change in the future.

American Military Bases

The US military has had a presence in Japan since the end of WWII, and has been a controversial topic ever since. The military brings with it noise pollution from its fighter jets, crashes and accidents, and soldiers who don’t always follow the rules.

For those reasons, Okinawans have had a strained relationship with US military bases. It’s easy to see why the two Okinawan girls in the Up series are concerned: one has to cover her daughter’s ears and comfort her every time a fighter jet goes roaring by.

The girls’ views towards the bases basically don’t change at all during the three movies, and the bases themselves don’t change any substantial amount. Will there ever be any change?

Pressures of Youth

Growing up in Japan is tough. The endless series of entrance exams, high expectations, and a seemingly endless recession makes youth a lot more stressful than you might expect.

You can see this in virtually every single kid in the Up series. Unless they spend hours a night on homework and countless time on test preperation, they struggle to make it into the schools they want and get the jobs they’ve dreamed of.

It makes you really question the whole education system. On the surface, it’s a meritocracy: the smartest kids get into the best schools. But for the kids in the Up series, it doesn’t quite seem fair.

Ethnic Minorities

Living as an ethnic minority in Japan has always been hard, especially since Japan is so ethnically homogenous.

Two of the kids in the series aren’t ethnically Japanese — one identifies as Korean, and the other as Chinese. Neither family seems to keen to stick around Japan for too long, and both kids generally stick with other people of the same ethnicity.

It all gives you the feeling that it’s hard for these kids to carve out their own niche in Japanese society. They both seem to be doing pretty well for themselves in 21 Up, so I’ll be eager to see how they do in the future.

If you’re looking for a movie about Japan that’s quirky, exciting, or weird, the Japanese Up series isn’t for you. It’s slow-paced and pretty mundane.

But that’s the point. The Up series shows you what the lives of ordinary people are like in Japan, regardless of how exciting or cool they are.

Above all, the value in the Up series is the process. The more movies in the series, the more we get to learn about its subjects and watch them grow up and live their lives.

The next movie in the series is 28 Up, which should come out in the next couple of years. While 28 Up probably won’t be the next Avatar, it will add yet another chapter to this incremental masterpiece.

I love the “7 UP” series. I watched it a few times whilst at University. It is always so heartbreaking to see those kids grow into adults. I suppose they did not end up too badly, but you can see how hard life really is when you follow theirs. This interests me, so I will check it out in the near future. Thanks Hashi.

chris

Frustratingly, Amazon won’t let you watch it if you live outside the US. “Alternative means” of finding it online seem unfruitful, so wildly enough, looks like I’ll be going to a library to watch these from a VHS tape. (Pretty amazing when I live in the same country as the producing company)

Mescale

I like it when the bubble go up my nose.

http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

It good.

http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

Aw man, I didn’t know that Amazon limited it to the US :( Well, at least you have a VHS player!

hannah

Up definitely sounds like a great documentary and interesting watch. I look forward to watching the Japanese and English version. All the issues sound very intriguing but one caught my eye in particular – the American bases in Japan.
I find what they say very interesting. I very much agree that there has been too high a number of misbehaved, untrained soldiers that have caused horrible incidents to happen there. However, I think it’s very interesting that they are disturbed/annoyed,etc by the sound of fighter jets. Having grown up in and around military bases myself, if you are someone that lives close to the bases, you become accustomed to the noises, especially if you start hearing them from an early age. Now, I haven’t seen the documentary so I’m not sure what was shown/heard in the film – but almost of all my friends , including myself, are accustomed to hearing airplanes, fighter jets, and the like, shoom above us during the day, night, etc. Some actually even find it comforting (that probably sounds weird, I know.) We’re not afraid of them, we find them a symbol of safety. I wonder if the Japanese children don’t feel the same way or are taught by parents differently? That would be interesting, considering that we are allies. (Just a thought! Not assuming that it’s actually like that)
Anyways! This really hit home with me because it’s the fact that there are bases there that I was born! My parents met in Okinawa (the kid references it in the picture :) ) – so if it wasn’t for the military base being there, my parents probably would have never met.
I do think it has been enough time since WWII that the US should at least not have so many bases over there. I can understand the fact that it disrupts the people and takes up alot of land – the koreans feel the same. I wonder if the Japanese government is okay with so many bases? Are they keeping them because it’s a strategic advancement (ie – might need help to fight north korea sometime soon!)? Or do they want them out too??

Kasma88

Have you tried youtube? They’ve got 7up on there so maybe they’ve got the others too!

http://twitter.com/shollum Shollum

But… doesn’t everyone still have a VHS player?

It’s so cool man, you can watch movies at home whenever you want without having to have a projector and a roll of film! I mean, it’s just revolutionary! You can record television and fast forward through the commercials too! You can watch things whenever you want without The Man deciding what can and can’t be shown! If you have connections, you can even watch that anime stuff without learning Japanese!